The allocation represents 30 percent of the city’s CARES Act funding from the state

The Stoney administration today announced that $6 million of the $20.1 million in CARES Act funding provided to the city by the state will go to fund the Eviction Diversion Program and rental assistance.
 
The sum represents 30 percent of the state’s total allocation to the City of Richmond.
 
The funding will support both households currently facing evictions pending in the courts as well as those at risk of eviction due to economic challenges arising from COVID-19.
 
“From both a human services and a public health perspective, it is paramount that Richmond residents do not face housing insecurity during this pandemic,” said Mayor Stoney. “In the long-term recovery from this crisis, we want to make sure the city’s doing everything it can to empower residents, especially during the most challenging moments of their lives.”
 
The eviction moratorium issued by Governor Northam expires on Monday, June 29. 1900 households in Richmond currently face a pending eviction. Those cases will move forward if the eviction moratorium is not extended.

##

Click here to download the Mayor’s Roadmap for Public Safety Reform. The full visual presentation will be available here when meeting materials are posted by the city clerk.

At an informal meeting of Richmond City Council on Monday, Mayor Stoney presented his local roadmap for reimagining public safety, a plan for the restructuring and reform of city policies, procedures and practices to ensure a truly safer city for all. 
 
The Stoney administration is pursuing a human services-centered approach to public safety, strengthening and creating new partnerships between the city and community organizations. 

“Of course, we need officers to respond to violent and criminal acts, but we cannot expect our police officers to serve as social workers, psychologists, child trauma experts and mental health workers, responding to every non-criminal call for service because America hasn’t properly prioritized other service providers,” said Mayor Stoney. “It does not make our country, or our city, safer.”
 
The elements of the roadmap fall into five main buckets: policy, accountability, programs, community healing and engagement, and governance.
 
Policy:
 
The Richmond Police Department (RPD) has updated and strengthened their Duty to Intervene policy, which ensures that officers are legally and morally obligated to intervene when they believe an officer or supervisor is about to use excessive or unnecessary force or observe other inappropriate actions.
 
The RPD has also updated their long-standing ban on chokeholds to provide greater specificity for officers.
 
Accountability:
 
A Civilian Review Board is generally charged with the duty of reviewing complaints about officers and recommending disciplinary action after police departments have completed their own investigations and made their own recommendations.
 
The mayor has established that it should be independent of the police department and representative of the Richmond community at large. To that end, he has requested that Richmond City Council play an active role in engaging constituents and drafting the legislation to create the board.
 
The Stoney administration has committed to hosting two community engagement meetings before the ordinance is drafted and introduced and is encouraging city council to do the same.
 
“This is my goal: over the next few weeks and months, we will collectively engage the community, seek input from RPD, review best practices and present an ordinance for introduction,” said Mayor Stoney.
 
Programs:
 
The city will create a formal crisis alert system, called the Marcus Alert. The Richmond Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) and RPD will implement a responsive citywide alert system that allows the two agencies to work collaboratively to address calls about mental and behavioral health crises, ensuring residents get the help they need.
  
Community Healing and Engagement: 

In order to facilitate community healing and engagement and meet the commitment he made in signing Barack Obama’s Mayor Pledge to review and reform the city’s use of force policy, the mayor has founded the Task Force for Reimagining Public Safety.
 
The task force will bring together more than 20 individuals from the activist, legal, academic, law enforcement, mental and behavioral health and other communities to agree on a set of actionable steps forward within 90 days of the first meeting. 
 
It will focus on making public safety recommendations that build toward equity and justice in five core areas: police policy, practices and culture, police accountability, community healing and engagement, officer training and education, and officer and community wellness.
 
The Stoney administration has also committed to removing the city’s monuments to the Lost Cause. The state allows municipalities to begin the removal process July 1, though the mayor has stated that he supports immediate removal. 
 
Governance:
 
Racial equity should be a core component of city policies and practices. Councilmembers Newbille and Robertson have worked alongside the administration to develop a racial equity strategy for the city, which includes staff training and an equity study, among other measures.
 
As part of this work, Mayor Stoney has asked his executive cabinet to report back to him with several ways in which policies and practices within their portfolios can be changed to actively advance equity.
 
“The issues we have with our public safety system, and with creating racial equity and justice more broadly in our community, do not have an easy or straightforward solution,” Mayor Stoney told council. “It’s going to take compassion, conversation and teamwork to create meaningful change in our city.”
 
“But, the work cannot and will not stop here,” continued Mayor Stoney. “We have to remember that public safety is not the only system that needs to be reformed. We have work to do to ensure that our kids are receiving a high-quality education, that affordable housing opportunities are available across the city for all residents, that city services are delivered in an effective and efficient manner, and that we provide pathways for economic mobility. This is our time, our chance, our opportunity to renew Richmond — to give it new strength and spirit.”

##

The Office of the General Registrar of the City of Richmond has issued a record number of absentee ballots through the mail and wants to facilitate the return of those voted ballots.
 
The office will have a “Drive Up and Drop Off” post curbside on the 9th Street side of City Hall for voters to drive up and hand their absentee ballot to staff. The service will operate from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Monday, June 22, 2020.
 
Voters can only drop off their own ballot; they cannot drop off a ballot for another voter. The Registrar requests voters who have applied for an absentee ballot through the mail to return it, rather than to go to the polls on Election Day with the ballot. Returning ballots directly to City Hall does not require a wait or paperwork. Those who have been issued a ballot through the mail cannot vote that ballot at the polls. If they go to vote on Election Day, they will have to go through the process of voiding their ballot and surrendering it before being allowed to vote.
 
Please also be advised that while this Friday, June 19, 2020 is a holiday for the rest of the city, the Office of the General Registrar will be open for normal business hours on Friday, including in-person absentee voting.
 
Voted absentee ballots must be in the Office of the General Registrar no later than 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 23, 2020. For more information, please contact J. Kirk Showalter, General Registrar at (804) 646-5950.
 
 
##

The City of Richmond will observe Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, as a paid city holiday.
 
“I urge everyone to use this day as an opportunity for reflection, service and healing,” said Mayor Stoney.
 
Juneteenth began as a celebration of enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas in 1865 upon learning of the federal order for their freedom, which was actually issued over two years prior when President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This year marks 155 years since the origination of Juneteenth. 
 
For more information on the history and significance of this day, visit: https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth.

##

The decision comes alongside a plan for reimagining public safety 

Today, Mayor Stoney announced that he requested and received Chief of Police William Smith’s resignation. The mayor has appointed Major William Jody Blackwell as the Interim Chief of the Richmond Police Department.
 
“I have high expectations of the Richmond Police Department,” said Mayor Stoney. “And at a minimum I expect them to be willing to come around the table with the community to reform and reimagine public safety.”
 
“Interim Chief Blackwell is willing and able to focus on necessary public safety reform, healing and trust building within the community,” said Mayor Stoney.
 
The mayor went on to outline a collaborative path forward.
 
He indicated he has spoken to Council President Newbille, and will follow up with a letter, outlining a request that City Council work with the administration, the interim chief and the community to develop legislation to create a citizen review board.
 
“My hope is that City Council will be proactive in collaborating with me and community leaders in all 9 of their districts to craft a citizen review board with complete community buy-in,” said the mayor.
 
He also indicated he will sign the Obama Pledge for Mayors, which commits the city to reevaluating its use of force policy. Beyond the immediate changes of strengthening the Richmond Police Department’s ban on chokeholds and duty to intervene policy, that pledge includes the creation of the Richmond Task Force on Reimagining Public Safety.
 
The task force will bring more than 20 individuals from the activist, legal, academic, law enforcement, behavioral health and other communities together to agree on a set of actionable steps forward within 90 days of the first meeting.
 
“The mission of this task force will be to make public safety recommendations that build toward equity and justice. Using a restorative justice framework, we can reimagine public safety to create a truly safer city for all – meaning both the members of the community and the officers that serve the community.”
 
The mayor indicated that the city’s response must be holistic, including immediate changes as well as long-term planning informed by community input and evidence-based practices.
 
Currently, police officers are asked to respond to every type of crisis, from homelessness to mental health crises. The mayor noted that reimagining public safety in the City of Richmond must include designing an emergency response system and empowering a social safety net that meet these needs.
 
“We can’t expect our police officers to serve as social workers, psychologists, and juvenile trauma experts, intervening in these situations because America hasn’t properly prioritized other service providers. It does not make our country, or our city, safer.”
 
Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, will be observed as a paid city holiday. Earlier in the day, Governor Northam declared the day a state holiday. The mayor encouraged everyone to use the day for reflection, service and healing.
 
“One thing is clear after the past two weeks: Richmond is ready to reimagine public safety. There’s work to be done, so if you have been out on the streets, I invite you to join us at the table. I want to incorporate your experience and turn your pain into progress.”

##